Latest / Scripture Unscripted / Matthew chapter 10

Transcript

Matthew chapter 10 · Scripture Unscripted

0:00
Matthew chapter 10, Let us pray. Lord.
0:08
Lord, I'm coming to you. We're coming to you.
0:12
Father, in the name of Jesus, we are asking that you will come in
0:18
and help us. Help us to discern your words,
0:22
help us to understand them. Father, I pray, Holy Spirit,
0:26
that you will be our teacher and our guide.
0:29
I pray that you will be well pleased with the reading of your
0:34
scriptures. God, I'm praying that there will
0:37
be many who find salvation today.
0:40
God, I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will convict us of our
0:46
shortcomings and our trespasses and our sins and all the times
0:50
that we've fallen short. I pray in the name of Jesus that
0:54
you'll help us, Father. Help us to see you rightly.
0:58
Help us, Father, to know that you're near.
1:01
Help us to know that you're here.
1:02
Help us to know, God, that we can trust you and that you're
1:09
leading us in passive righteousness.
1:11
Help us, Father, to sense your presence, God.
1:15
Not from an emotional state, God, but from reality and truth.
1:20
Lord, I pray that Jesus Christ will be exalted above the
1:24
nations. I pray that it'll be His plan
1:29
for all ages to inhabit us as the temples God, and to take the
1:35
whole word to the whole world. God, I pray for a supernatural
1:39
filling today. I pray God that you will correct
1:43
us, Lord, and that you will help us.
1:47
God, Holy Spirit, help us to understand all the scriptures.
1:52
Help us to discern what it is that you want to say to this
1:56
wicked and perverse generation today.
1:59
I pray in the name of Jesus that you will be well pleased.
2:03
Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that you'll come in and
2:07
fill us supernaturally. I pray in the name of Jesus for
2:10
healing from on high. I pray in the name of Jesus for
2:14
a supernatural filling. I pray in the name of Jesus that
2:18
you, Father, will be here. You said where two or more
2:21
gathered there you are also. So God, I pray that you will
2:26
come in and dine and up with us. Let us come in to the holiest of
2:31
holy places. Lord, we open the door and allow
2:34
you to come in to the secret places, the hallowed places.
2:41
God of our hearts and minds. God, I pray that there is
2:45
nothing that is compartmentalized and held back.
2:48
God, we are an open book unto you as we open your book.
2:51
God read us, Lord, as we read your scriptures.
2:56
Lord, it's all about you. It's always been about you.
2:58
It'll always be about you. God, we just laid down.
3:01
We are your lay down lovers. Father, I pray that you will
3:05
gird us up. Father, I pray that you'll help
3:08
us to stand in your presence. Father, I pray that we can enter
3:13
in boldly. Father, I pray in the name of
3:16
Jesus that you will help us to walk in the identity that you've
3:20
given us. Father, I pray that you will
3:25
come in, Lord, fill us and do us with the Holy Spirit.
3:32
Lord, just be our God. Lord, You are the only one that
3:41
we ever seek after. It is you and it is you, and it
3:46
is you alone, Father, that we desire.
3:50
You are our heart's desire, Father, so we just want more.
3:56
We've tasted and we've seen that you are good, You are holy, and
4:02
Lord, we pray you will make us holy as you are holy.
4:08
You are worthy. You are the only one found
4:11
worthy to open the scroll. Lord, we acknowledge your
4:16
supremacy. We acknowledge You're all
4:20
powerful, all knowing, ever present in our times of trouble.
4:29
It's you and it's you and it's you alone, Father, that we are
4:34
pushing towards. Lord, we just want to be there
4:39
with you and God. We want to live on fire for you
4:43
here. God now Lord, supernaturally
4:47
fill us and help us to finish the race well, in Jesus Christ's
4:53
holy and precious name that I pray.
4:55
Amen. Let's start in verse one.
5:03
And when he had called unto him his 12 disciples, he gave them
5:08
power against unclean spirits to cast them out to heal all manner
5:13
of sickness and all manner of disease.
5:18
So here we can see that Jesus Christ, he is sending out his 12
5:26
disciples and he's giving them the same power that he has.
5:32
He is giving them the special power that they've actually been
5:36
able to witness where he is amassed this massive crowd.
5:40
And you could see in the last couple chapters how he was
5:43
cleansing the lepers, He was driving out the demons.
5:48
Here you can see that he's giving this same power unto his
5:51
12 disciples. And we can see that it is for
5:55
the nation Israel. This is specifically for that
6:00
little land. Verse 2.
6:03
Now the names of the 12 apostles are these, the first Simon who's
6:09
called Peter and Andrew his brother, James the son of
6:14
Zebedee, and John his brother. So here we have an interesting
6:20
title. The apostles and the apostles
6:24
were his heralds. They are the messengers.
6:28
They are the ones to take his message out.
6:31
And So what Jesus could do is walk from city to city, and he
6:37
could proclaim to be the Son of God, and the Kingdom was near.
6:42
And then through divine intelligence, he saw that it was
6:50
profitable to send out his 12 disciples slash apostles here to
6:59
send them out to do the ministry in a shorter amount of time than
7:04
he could have in just his own body.
7:08
And them following him around. He supernaturally fills them
7:12
with the miraculous powers, the healing powers, and the ability
7:17
to drive out demons. And then they go into all of the
7:22
towns proclaiming the Kingdom is near and imagine that they're
7:26
only going to Israel, only going to the Jewish nation.
7:31
And part of the title to become an apostle, you had to actually
7:36
see the resurrected Jesus Christ.
7:39
You had to actually be part of his ministry.
7:43
And we could see that that title was given to Barnabas by the
7:46
Holy Spirit. We could see that that title was
7:49
given to Paul. We can see that that title was
7:53
given to Matthias after Judas Iscariot hung himself and
7:58
betrayed our Lord. Verse 3 Philip Bartholomew
8:07
Thomas Matthew the Publican James the son of Alphaeus
8:13
Labius, whose surname was Thaddeus Simon, the Canaanite
8:18
Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
8:21
So very interesting. Here you have three teams of
8:25
four and they all have a leader. And every time that these
8:29
apostles are mentioned, Simon Peter is the first always in the
8:37
list. So it seems that he is the
8:40
leader of his little group there, his brother Andrew, James
8:47
and John, the sons of Zebedee. It looks as if perhaps Philip
8:53
was the leader there with Bartholomew and Thomas and
8:57
Matthew. And then you can see James the
9:03
son of Alphaeus, perhaps Matthew's brother, and Labius,
9:08
whose surname was Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite that was the
9:11
Zealot, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
9:15
So you can see these little teams of four.
9:18
And so this was a representative of the 12 tribes of Israel all
9:24
the way back there, Jacob's sons.
9:28
And then you can also see here that the application for their
9:33
time was this was a complete number and they were a band of
9:40
brothers who could act as a council in the land.
9:45
And they will judge the the tribes of Israel in the last
9:51
days and the Kingdom age. They will also have their names
9:55
written upon the great temple and the city of God.
10:01
This is very important. These names here that are
10:05
represented. These are not just a bunch of
10:07
Jews that he chose. You can see that they were
10:11
common people, unlearned men. How many times do we see that
10:16
they were fishermen, they were publicans, they were common
10:20
folk, and other than Judas, these were a band of brothers
10:27
that we can look up to. We can see that their faults and
10:32
our faults are not indicators of being tossed aside from society.
10:41
You know they represent us well, these 12 men.
10:45
We can see Peter, how he stuck his foot in his mouth more than
10:50
anyone else. We can see how the sons of
10:54
Thunder were angry and wanted to call down lightning upon Jesus's
10:59
foes. We can see that Matthew was a
11:03
thief in his prior years. We can see so much of ourselves
11:09
in these men, and I believe Jesus did that on purpose so
11:13
that we can see that we're not discounted just because we're
11:18
not part of the social elite. How amazing is our God that He
11:23
would choose a Wretch like us? Five these 12 Jesus sent forth
11:31
and commanded them, saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles
11:36
and into any city of the Samaritans.
11:38
Enter you not see. So he's going to tell us in
11:41
verse 6 that this message is for the Jews. 6 But go rather to the
11:45
lost sheep of the House of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach,
11:50
saying, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, That was the message of
11:54
John the Baptist. That was the message that Jesus
11:57
wanted all the Jews to know that he had come to the earth.
12:01
He is the embodiment of heaven. He is heaven.
12:05
Jesus is the buried treasure. Jesus is what we press towards.
12:10
If there was nothing else in the afterlife but Jesus Christ, is
12:15
he enough? Do you search after the rewards?
12:20
Do you search after the street of gold?
12:22
Are you pressing towards this great city where grandma and
12:26
grandpa are and your friends and family and relatives are?
12:31
Or are you searching and pressing after Jesus and Jesus
12:37
alone? He is our great reward, friends.
12:41
He's the Kingdom of heaven in embodiment.
12:44
Friends 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
12:57
out devils freely you have received and freely give.
13:04
So here verse 8. This is the credentials that
13:08
would mark an apostle. This is what they had the power
13:13
to do. He told them in verse one power
13:17
against unclean spirits. He told them in verse one, cast
13:22
them out. He told them in verse one, heal
13:24
all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
13:28
Then He tells you He's that they are empowered.
13:32
These apostles are empowered to heal the sick, cleanse the
13:35
leopard, raise the dead, cast out devils freely you have
13:39
received freely give that is their credentials and yes, some
13:44
of this overflows into the walk of the Christian.
13:48
Yes, some of this is our inheritance.
13:51
I believe that we have the power to heal.
13:55
We have the power to lay our hands and pray in the name of
13:58
Jesus and ask for healing from on high.
14:03
We have the power to drive out the demons.
14:06
We have that power in the name of Jesus Christ to raise the
14:11
dead. We have that power, friends, and
14:14
we need to ask of it. Healing the sick, cleansing the
14:18
diseased. Yes, call on the name of Jesus
14:23
and watch how people are miraculously healed.
14:27
Praise God 2 provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in
14:35
your purses. So here, Lee, here you can see
14:37
that he tells us that to freely give because they have freely
14:44
received that he's saying don't bring anything, don't go out.
14:49
This is urgent. He's telling them to go
14:53
immediately. Don't make a bunch of don't make
14:59
a bunch of preparations. They need to be able to leave
15:03
immediately. And our call as men and women of
15:08
faith is we need to live our lifestyles ready and willing to
15:13
lay everything down in a moment's notice when the Lord
15:17
thunders from on high, when he whispers in the still small
15:21
voice and tells us to go into all the world and it is the
15:28
greatest adventure you will ever embark on.
15:31
And he's saying don't worry about all the preparations, just
15:35
trust, increase your faith. That is what he's mentioning
15:39
here. He's saying that they need to be
15:42
open handed with whatever they have and as they freely give,
15:47
not looking at people's financial status, not looking at
15:51
their social status, not looking at how they look or the
15:56
background that they come from, but seeing everybody the way
15:59
that God does, then they can easily give because it was given
16:04
easily to them. And that is our call as well,
16:08
friends. We were the least likely
16:12
converts in all the world and He chose us and we had enough
16:17
wherewithal to surrender. And then because when we look
16:22
back and see where we have come from, it is easy for us to give
16:29
the gifts of God to other people and not hold them back,
16:33
regardless of their background. 10 nor script for your journey.
16:40
Neither 2 coats, neither shoes nor stays.
16:43
For the Workman is worthy of his meat.
16:46
Verse 10 is one of those controversial versus where you
16:51
have people that are hostile towards God and they take other
16:55
accounts here in the Gospels where it says take for yourself
16:58
a staff and here it says don't take for yourself a staff.
17:02
And which one was it? And it's both friends.
17:06
If they had one, take it, but don't go and make preparations.
17:10
Don't worry about going and buying all these things.
17:14
Obviously they were to have shoes on if they had shoes, but
17:18
he's saying don't worry about going to grab another pair for
17:21
all of it will be provided for you on your journey from the
17:25
places that you go. People will support you as you
17:30
go out to do the Lord's work and you are worthy of that.
17:34
A Workman is worthy of his pay, but we need to make sure that
17:39
we're more like Paul as tent makers.
17:43
We need to make sure that we're actually putting our hand to the
17:46
plow. We need to make sure that it's
17:48
not just a bunch of intellectual property.
17:51
We need to make sure that we are going and actually willing to do
17:58
the physical work that it takes to take the whole entire word to
18:06
the entire world. Friends, that is Our Calling.
18:10
We do not need to just sit on our blessed assurance. 11 in
18:16
into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it
18:23
is worthy, and there abide until you go from there.
18:29
So verse 11, Jesus is telling them that every place that you
18:33
go, inquire of the person in that town who is hungry for the
18:41
word of God, and go and stay in that place. 12 And when you come
18:46
into a house, salute it. This would have been them
18:50
putting their Shalom, Shalom, the peace of God upon the house.
18:56
13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but
19:01
if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
19:04
So you have to imagine these disciples going from town to
19:08
town, and as they were welcomed into a house, they would speak
19:13
these heavenly truths over the inhabitants of that house, and
19:18
if they received it, the peace of God would rest upon that
19:22
house. But if they were hostile towards
19:25
these words, they were to leave from that place, and the peace
19:29
of God would remain on them until they found the correct
19:33
house to to reside in. 14 And whosoever shall not receive you,
19:39
nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or
19:43
city, shake off the dust of your feet.
19:46
What a what a picture here, what a picture of whenever we are
19:50
going about our business, whenever we are trying to
19:53
evangelize the world and someone is very hostile towards you and
19:58
God says shake the dust off your feet, warn the divisive person
20:04
once and then warn them again after that have nothing to do
20:07
with them. This is part of not casting your
20:09
pearls amongst swine. This is what it looks like,
20:14
friends. This is a great application of
20:17
that truth. 15 Truly, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable
20:22
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment
20:26
than for that city. Why?
20:28
Because Sodom and Gomorrah did not have Jesus Incarnate walking
20:34
amongst the land, stirring up all of the stories there and the
20:39
healings and the miracles. And they did.
20:42
And if they turn their back on them, they were more
20:45
responsible. And for us in this day, in this
20:49
hour, friends, I want you to know that we are even more
20:53
responsible than they were at this time.
20:57
Whenever Jesus was there, they were on the other side of the
21:01
cross. They had not seen the
21:03
masterpiece completed. They did not have the complete
21:07
authority of God's word in their hands.
21:11
They were still trying to figure it all out.
21:14
And it wasn't until Jesus died on the cross, He was buried for
21:18
three days and he was resurrected and he appeared to
21:22
many and he ascended to the right hand of the Father, did
21:27
light bulb moments go off. And everything clicked and they
21:30
understood that all the Old Testament prophecies were
21:34
fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Whenever they were on the road
21:38
to Emmaus, they were downtrodden.
21:40
They were trying to figure it all out.
21:42
And then whenever Jesus explained everything to him,
21:45
light bulb moment went off and they looked and they saw Jesus
21:50
and then he was gone that same second.
21:55
So we are even more responsible on this side of the cross than
21:59
they were at this time. But he's telling them that the
22:02
people of Sodom and Gomorrah, all they had was lot in that
22:08
city who was representing God. And he didn't represent him very
22:13
well. But we can see over in Hebrews
22:16
that he was counted in the hall of faith.
22:19
You can see it, you can see with Abraham and Lot, that Sodom and
22:24
Gomorrah had somewhat of a representation of the goodness
22:27
of God, and that is what is referenced here. 16 Behold, I
22:32
send you forth a sheep in the midst of wolves.
22:36
Be you therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
22:43
16 is a beautiful. Verse 16 shows us what it is to
22:49
walk with the Lord God Almighty. We are the sheep.
22:52
We are amongst the wolves. Look all around.
22:55
It doesn't take long to figure out, friends, that there are so
23:00
many ravenous wolves that are dressed up as pastors and
23:05
preachers. They were.
23:06
There are so many ravenous wolves dressed up as
23:09
politicians. There are so many ravenous
23:12
wolves dressed up as school teachers.
23:15
There are so many ravenous wolves dressed up as
23:18
businessman. There are so many ravenous
23:21
wolves out there in the world. And we are the sheep, and we
23:26
hear his voice, and we have discernment, and God protects
23:31
us. He's the great shepherd.
23:32
Jesus Christ is our shepherd, and he will make sure that we
23:38
make it home. Friends, He tells us to be wise
23:42
as serpents, harmless as doves. This might be one of those
23:47
verses that we want to gloss over because we think of the
23:51
serpents as being relegated to the Garden of Eden.
23:56
We think of Satan, and we could try to sit here and figure out
24:00
what that means to be wise as serpents.
24:04
But if you remember that the serpent is a beast that doesn't
24:12
have any arms or legs and he has to be very mindful of everywhere
24:17
that he goes because there's everyone is hostile towards that
24:22
creature and they all want to cut the head off.
24:26
And so he's telling us to be wise and be very shrewd and be
24:31
harmless as doves make sure that we have the peace of God, but
24:37
we're shrewd at the same time. We need to make sure that we are
24:42
listening to the voice of Jesus as he's calling us into the
24:46
fold. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the
24:53
councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogue.
24:56
So 17 starts a different time period.
25:00
So Jesus in a beautiful prophetic.
25:06
Position. He is talking to the 12, but
25:11
he's flowing in and out of different time periods.
25:15
And here he just left their ministry of taking the word of
25:21
the Kingdom of God to Israel alone and he's flowing out of
25:27
that, even though this is in the same period of him sending them
25:32
out. He's about to flow into the time
25:34
period of the tribulation. He's flowing into the time
25:38
period where you and I are. He's telling us that we will be
25:43
delivered up to the councils and they will scourge you in their
25:47
synagogue. So this is verse 17 shows you a
25:51
one world religion in the tribulation.
25:55
He's showing us that men will deliver us up to a a very wicked
26:04
judicial system here. This will be during that
26:09
seven-year tribulation and we're seeing the outer bands of it
26:13
now, aren't we, friends? 18 And you shall be brought
26:17
before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against
26:21
them and against the and the Gentiles.
26:26
So you can see. Here that he's talking about is
26:29
if you remember back in. In verse 6.
26:39
He says, look, but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of
26:44
Israel, because in verse 5 he says do not go the way of the
26:47
Gentiles. And then Fast forward to verse
26:50
18. He says, and you shall be
26:53
brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a
26:56
testimony against them and the Gentiles.
27:00
So here in verse 18 you can see how Jesus is flowing out of the
27:06
present state of of sending the 12 out to a future state. 19.
27:13
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you
27:18
shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what
27:23
you shall speak. So here, this is what happens
27:26
when the Holy Spirit hijacks us. This is what happened whenever
27:29
Stephen was martyred. This is what happens whenever we
27:34
have the divine counsel that comes in to of our heart and
27:38
mind and on our lips and tongue and we're able to accurately
27:41
speak for the Lord Almighty in the days of tribulation, in the
27:47
days of persecution, we will be able to speak correctly.
27:53
We do not need to fear what we're going to say.
27:56
We need to trust that the Lord is going to have His will and
28:01
have His way through our obedience.
28:04
Friends. 24 It is not you that speak, but the spirit of your
28:10
Father, which speaks in you. So we can see.
28:15
That Jesus Christ is giving us the mandate of what it will look
28:21
like in the last days whenever we have to be delivered up unto
28:26
persecution, Whenever we will be His representatives in the
28:31
courtroom, we will be His representatives in the one world
28:36
religion. And we should not.
28:39
Fear the one that can take our life away. 21 and the brother.
28:46
Shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child,
28:50
and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause
28:53
them to be put to death. So here you can see the family
28:56
unit in the last days, the family unit in the tribulation.
29:02
The family unit will be broken up because there will be many
29:06
who Make Love decisions for the world, and it will be illegal to
29:12
follow after Jesus Christ. Whenever the Antichrist has his
29:17
heyday, whenever there is a literal hell on earth for seven
29:21
years, it will be illegal. This one world religious system,
29:25
this wicked perverse judicial system and the family unit will
29:31
be. They will be.
29:35
Turning against each other. They will be turning on each
29:39
other. They will be turning their
29:42
parents or children in for following the way.
29:47
You can see it all lined up. You can see how it's all coming
29:52
down the pipeline, friends. 22 And you shall be hated of all
29:56
men for my name's sake, but he that endorsed the end shall be
30:01
saved. It'll be a whole lot harder for
30:05
people to give their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ during
30:09
this time that he's Speaking of this seven-year tribulation. 23
30:14
But when they persecute you in this city, flee you into
30:18
another, truly I say unto you, You shall not have gone over the
30:23
cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
30:29
Verse 20. 3 is a verse that is. Very much.
30:35
Disputed and talked about and you can see that this was not
30:41
for the 12 at this time. Perhaps 23 was fulfilled in AD
30:48
70. Perhaps when Rome?
30:52
Came in and destroyed Israel. All of Israel had not yet been
30:58
reached with the gospel. Perhaps this is talking about
31:03
that seven-year tribulation that I mentioned.
31:07
You can see both applications being able to be fulfilled in
31:14
verse 2324. The disciple is not above his
31:18
master, nor the servant above his Lord.
31:22
So we need to always keep Jesus Christ as the first.
31:27
We do not need to worry so much as our position or what people
31:33
think about us. So we need to make sure that
31:35
Jesus Christ has the last word. 25 It is enough for the disciple
31:41
that he be as his master, and the servant as his Lord.
31:46
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much
31:51
more shall they call him them of his household?
31:54
So Jesus here is telling the disciples that they will be
31:58
ridiculed. Jesus here is telling them if
32:01
they have already called him Beelzebub, then how much more
32:10
fitting would we who are under him be blasphemed and be
32:17
ridiculed and be broken down and made fun of?
32:24
20. 6 Fear them not, therefore. For there is.
32:31
Nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall
32:35
not be known. Many times there are martyrs.
32:38
Many times there are those that are persecuted.
32:40
Many of the many times there are those that are being.
32:47
Cut. Down and they feel as if God is
32:52
so distant from them. And this is a promise, friends.
32:55
This is a book of promises. That God is going to.
32:59
Make every wrong thing right. He's going to say, don't fear
33:03
them. He's going to say that
33:05
everything that is being done God sees, and he's going to
33:09
bring it all out into the light. 27 What I tell you in darkness
33:16
that speak you, and light, and what you hear in the ear, that
33:23
preach you upon the housetops. He's telling.
33:27
Them that as he's discipling them, they are to go out and to
33:32
preach it unto all the nations here.
33:35
He's flowing into back into the 12, but he's also talking to us
33:40
and he's also talking to those that will be persecuted and
33:44
martyred in the seven-year tribulation.
33:47
And he's telling them and he's telling us and he's telling the
33:51
future ones. He's saying and do not fear them
33:54
which killed the body, which are not able to kill the soul, but
33:58
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in
34:03
hell. This is a clear mandate friends,
34:09
that we are not to operate in the spirit of fear, but we are
34:12
to go out. We are to not worry about those
34:18
that can kill the body. We need to be more mindful of
34:22
God Almighty, fear him and everything else.
34:25
Bows do not have the spirit of fear and timidity.
34:29
Friends, do not be a coward, but stand boldly in the face of
34:35
persecution. Stand boldly in the face of
34:38
martyrdom. Friends, we need to make sure
34:41
that we know that our inheritance is with the Lord
34:44
Almighty. It's not here on this earth. 29
34:49
are not. Two sparrows sold for a
34:51
Farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without
34:54
your father. So here he's saying that in
34:59
verse 29 God sees everything. 30 But the very hairs of your head
35:04
are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore, you are of more value
35:11
than many sparrows. 32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me
35:18
before men, him will I confess also before my Father, which is
35:22
in heaven. Can you imagine that what we say
35:25
here on this earth to other people about Jesus Christ, Jesus
35:31
Christ turn and say those very things about us to the Father?
35:36
He is the Mediator. He is interceding on our behalf.
35:40
He is going to stand there and say, This one is mine. 33 But
35:48
whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before
35:54
my Father, which is in heaven. These are the ones who stand
35:57
there and say, We prophesied in your name.
35:59
We cast out demons in your name, we perform miracles in your
36:03
name. And he says, Depart from me, for
36:05
I never knew you. These were the ones that shrunk
36:08
back in the face of fear. These were the cowards, these
36:11
were the timid, These were the ones that were not willing to go
36:15
the whole way. 34 faint not. That I have come to send peace
36:21
on earth. I came not to send peace, but a
36:25
sword. What a loaded verse.
36:28
This seems so counterintuitive to the ways of the Lord.
36:32
And if we're not completely saturated in the word of God,
36:36
we're going to adopt this bubble gum.
36:40
Christianity. Where it's all just peace and
36:43
love. And here Jesus in all of his
36:51
power and might and glory is telling us he's, he's relegating
36:56
it. He's going back to where he says
36:59
the brother shall deliver up the brother to death.
37:01
He's going back to verse 21. This 34 is talking about verse
37:07
21 where he says that the that the children shall rise up
37:12
against their parents and the cause them to be put to death.
37:17
This is the sword that comes in 35 fry and come to set a man at
37:22
variance against his father. And the daughter against.
37:29
Her mother and the daughter-in-law against her
37:31
mother-in-law. So this is the breakdown of the
37:34
family unit in the last days whenever everyone's believing a
37:38
lie and they are delighting themselves in the wickedness,
37:42
they're delighting themselves in the world and they care nothing.
37:45
And you can see the affection of even mothers towards their
37:51
children being broken down. You can see this natural
37:54
affection just being completely eroded inside of the family
37:59
unit. And it's so prevalent in our
38:01
day, in our society. All you have to do is look
38:04
around and you could see all of these things shaping up.
38:08
Friends 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own
38:12
household. He's saying all the way back
38:15
there. He's he's bringing us back to
38:17
that moment. And it was prophesied back there
38:20
in the minor prophets. We can see that these things are
38:23
being talked about. 37 He that loves father or mother more than
38:30
me is not worthy of me. And he that loves son or
38:34
daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38:37
He's saying don't make your family an idol.
38:40
We need to make sure that God Almighty, that Jesus Christ and
38:44
that the Holy Spirit is our forefront.
38:47
They are our mission. They are what we we are set our
38:51
sails towards. This is what we set our eyes
38:54
upon. And if you look around and your
38:58
wife and your children and your brothers and your sisters and
39:01
your mother and your father and your loved ones are following
39:04
hard after Jesus Christ, praise the Lord, that is a gift from
39:09
Him. But we do not need to stiff arm
39:13
the things of God because we love our family more.
39:18
And these, these are the ones who.
39:21
Are. Compromising on what Scripture
39:25
says, and it's happening every day.
39:27
This apostate church, this falling away, friends, you can
39:31
see it in the realm of homosexuality.
39:36
You can see how people for a long time stood for the Word of
39:41
God and what it says. And then as their children came
39:46
out, the parents compromised on the Word of God, and it's
39:52
leading them down dark paths. And it's happening every day of
39:57
the week, friends. It's happening more and more
40:00
because they love their loved ones more than they love Jesus
40:04
Christ. And that is what is referenced
40:06
right here, friends. 38. And he that takes not his cross
40:13
and follows after me is not worthy of me.
40:16
Imagine Jesus is saying this before he ever even goes to the
40:19
cross. Friends, he's saying that.
40:25
You must take up your. Cross.
40:27
This was a call to death. This was not a call to
40:30
persecution. This was a call to dying.
40:34
And every single one of the disciples would have understood
40:38
this when he says that if you do not take up the cross, you're
40:43
not worthy of him. 39 He that finds his life shall lose it,
40:49
and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.
40:52
This is what happens when we lay down our lives for the gospel.
40:56
We lay down our lives for our brother, we lay down our lives
40:59
for Jesus Christ. If you try to hold on to your
41:02
life here, this is what he was talking about back there.
41:07
This is what he was. Talking about.
41:13
When he was telling. US that if we do not stand up
41:18
for him, we're going to lose our lives and you're going to be
41:22
cast into hell if you do not stand up for the Lord God
41:26
Almighty. We cannot shrink back.
41:29
We must be bold in the face of persecution, even unto death,
41:35
Friends. He that receives you receives
41:44
me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me.
41:47
He's talking about God Almighty. He's talking about when people
41:51
receive us, His believers. When people receive Christians
41:57
and they receive Jesus Christ, then they receive the Lord God
42:02
Almighty. 41 he that. Receives a prophet in the name
42:09
of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he that
42:12
receives A righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall
42:16
receive a righteous man reward. You cannot get out of Matthew,
42:20
you cannot get out of the Gospels without seeing these
42:24
rewards built in to the Christian walk.
42:27
And no, we do not work for the rewards friends, but they are
42:30
built in and he's showing us that there are different degrees
42:34
of rewards. Most of what we do is would hay
42:38
and stubble. But we will be rewarded for the
42:41
things that we do not go around talking to people because God
42:46
sees what we do in private. He sees what we do in secret and
42:50
we will be rewarded for it. We'll end on 42.
42:54
And whosoever shall give to, to drink unto one of these little
42:58
ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, truly I
43:03
say unto you, he shall in no way lose his reward, reward, reward.
43:08
You see it mentioned so many times.
43:11
Praise God that we press towards our heavenly home.
43:17
And yes, we can experience pieces of it here, vapors of it
43:22
here, slivers of it here. We just see it dimly.
43:27
Now, but one way, one day we will see it clearly.
43:31
And His name is Jesus. He is our reward.
43:34
I hope you've been blessed by this chapter.
43:36
I know I sure have. I'm praying for every single one
43:39
of you. I.
43:42
Love you, so does God. We'll see you back here.
43:50
Tomorrow, God bless you.